Lawyers protest lack of access in Iran

New York, August 14, 2009--In a letter addressed to the head of the
Iranian judiciary, four defense lawyers protested that they were not allowed to
attend the latest hearing, on August 8, in a mass trial in which more than 100
defendants, including journalists, stand accused of anti-state activities.

On Tuesday, Mina Jafari, Abdolssamad Khoramshahi, Nassrin
Sutodeh, and Muhammad Mustafai sent a letter to the chief of the Iranian
judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi,
protesting that they had been denied
access into the mass hearing where their clients, some of whom are journalists,
are being tried, Radio
Zamaneh and the Iranian Human
Rights Activists News Agency reported. In their letter, the four lawyers said
they were denied entry because their clients were already being represented by
a public defender. They also voiced disapproval that one of the lawyers was
threatened with arrest after trying to gain entrance to the proceedings.

The lack of access is
part of a larger concern over how the detainees are being treated. Police chief Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam admitted that detainees had been
tortured while in custody. Last weekend, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered
the Kahrizak prison southern Tehranshut down after the recent death
of two detainees there.

"It is shameful that the Iranian authorities continue to
flout Iranian law by denying defendants the right to choose their own legal
representatives," said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator ‎‎Mohamed Abdel Dayem. "This is especially troublesome since
credible reports of prisoner abuse and other violations of due process continue
to surface."

In a separate
development, CPJ has learned that freelance journalist Reza Rafie Forushan, who
is one of the defendants in the mass hearings, has been in custody since June
26, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Forushan allegedly "gave a history of his cooperation with Time magazine to the court and added that his mission was to attend
presidential press conferences with the aim of holding biased interviews with
the officials of the Islamic Republic," IRNA reported.

News Director Howard Chua-Eoan in New York told CPJ that Reza Rafie Forushan "is
not, and has never been, affiliated with Time
magazine. That said, Time is deeply concerned
about the safety and freedom of all journalists worldwide."

Since post-election unrest erupted, Tehran has maintained that foreign elements
are behind the protests and violence. The Supreme Leader called
the foreign media "evil" and the authorities have detained journalists and
embassy staff working for international groups, and have extracted what are
widely considered to be false confessions to support those claims.

"The Iranian authorities seem to be going to great length to
construct a foreign media conspiracy that simply doesn't exist," said Abdel
Dayem.

With the confirmation of Forushan's arrest, CPJ research
shows that Iran
is currently holding at least 38 journalists behind bars.